''Dorytomus taeniatus'' is a species of

weevil Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small, less than in length, and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several families, ...

native to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. It was first described by

Johann Christian Fabricius Johan Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is cons ...

in 1781. The larvae cause a small growth (known as a gall) on the catkins of

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

s (''Salix'' species).

Description

Eggs are laid during the autumn in the axils of catkin buds and hatch the following spring. The larvae cause an inconspicuous distortion of, usually, female catkins, thickening the

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the grc, ῥάχις [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this c ...

. Catkins drop earlier than uninfected catkins and the larvae pupate in the soil. Close examination of the gall is necessary as Redfern et al. (2011) note that sometimes, thickening of the rachis can be wound tissue rather than a gall and according to ''Plant Parasites of Europe'' identification is only possible by examining the weevils. The gall has been recorded from white willow ( ''S. alba''), eared willow ( ''S. aurita'), goat willow ( ''S. caprea''), grey willow ( ''S. cinerea'') and purple willow ( ''S.purpurea''). Adults are long and brownish-black to black. They can be found from May onwards, browsing on the leaves, removing patches of tissue and exposing the network of fine veins.

Distribution

Found in western and central Europe including Great Britain (common) and Scandinavia.

References

Curculionidae Beetles described in 1781 Beetles of Europe Gall-inducing insects Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius Willow galls {{Curculionidae-stub